Movies ruined by an inappropriate soundtrack

[Emberglow]

I was watching Alan Parker's Midnight Express (1978) on TV over the weekend and it struck me that the score/soundtrack was totally unsuited to the movie. Perhaps it's just dated badly, but I find it incredible that Giorgio Moroder actually won an Academy Award for this drivel. Whoever came up with the idea of matching synthesized dance music with a Turkish prison movie needs to have their head examined. Can you think of other mis-matches that spoil an otherwise watchable and enjoyable movie?

[charlie W]

DRIVEN with Sly Stallone. Already acknowledged as a bad movie in many circles but it made worse with a soundtrack featuring bad covers of great R&B tracks(like "For the Love of Money"). As a racing fan, I wanted to hear the beautiful howl of those turbocharged Champ Car engines in Dolby Digital 5.1 and nothing else.

[jdrueke]

True Romance

This movie was the first time I really became aware of how important the soundtrack can be. I absolutley HATED Hans Zimmer's music for this movie. It actually distracted me when I saw this in the theater. IMO it was completely inapropraite for the film. For awhile I avoided movies with his work, I was that upset. Between the music and Tony Scott rearranging the plot to a straight linear narraitive, this movie was a huge dissappoinment to me. It had some classic moments and I liked the story, I just wish Tarantino had directed this himslef.

[Joel Cairo]

The Secret of My Success

A decent little film that gets thoroughly lost in the midst of its truly awful [and LOUD] "teen soundtrack" selections.

-Kevin

[BradOlson]

The John Wayne movie "Angel and The Badman" is a great movie, the soundtrack isn't as good.

[Mark]

Can I toss in a mini, but related, thread crap? "Joan of Arcadia" on TV (of course) has the most annoying habit of having songs playing behind the dialogue. I realize that I am getting old.....but I can't pick up half of what is said due to the background musical interference.

[Ed Bishop]

The John Wayne movie "Angel and The Badman" is a great movie, the soundtrack isn't as good.

I was going to mention this one, because the turgid(and loud)score doesn't really fit; seems like it was recorded for another flick, discarded, then dredged up for this one. Just doesn't work.

Ironically, an intentionally bad or excessive score can work for a movie. Always thought Godard was brilliant at that, most of all with LE MEPRIS(Contempt)and ALPHAVILLE. The latter has music just come out of nowhere to punctuate....nothing, really...:D

Some scores don't live up to the quality of the movie they were commissioned for; Max Steiner's score for TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE is uncharacteristically dull, while the original score for ANIMAL HOUSE(not the hit songs added)seems absurdly formal at times, which is also true of the GUARDING TESS score, not sure what the point was in that...

:ed:

[thegage]

True Romance

This movie was the first time I really became aware of how important the soundtrack can be. I absolutley HATED Hans Zimmer's music for this movie. It actually distracted me when I saw this in the theater. IMO it was completely inapropraite for the film. For awhile I avoided movies with his work, I was that upset. Between the music and Tony Scott rearranging the plot to a straight linear narraitive, this movie was a huge dissappoinment to me. It had some classic moments and I liked the story, I just wish Tarantino had directed this himslef.

I have an uncle who thinks both the movie and the score are one of the best of all time--in fact he makes tapes of the soundtrack and sends them around to friends.

I can see how the soundtrack might bother some, but for me it seemd quite appropriate: the movie is almost a fable, and the music has a light, dreamy, and almost, well, fable-like quality to it.

John K.

[Ken_McAlinden]

A near miss for me is "The Third Man". It doesn't quite ruin the movie, but I am always somewhat annoyed by the much acclaimed and apparently loved by everyone who is not me "Zithermania" soundtrack.

Another one that almost gets there is "The Princess Bride". The score as written is not bad, but the arrangement sounds like a synthesizer temp track that was never replaced by the real orchestra it called for. The Mark Knopfler guitar bits are nice, but beware of the synth-brass. :eek:

Regards,

[Dave D]

Another one that almost gets there is "The Princess Bride". The score as written is not bad, but the arrangement sounds like a synthesizer temp track that was never replaced by the real orchestra it called for. The Mark Knopfler guitar bits are nice, but beware of the synth-brass. :eek:

Regards,
I thought the same thing last time I watched it. Guess the soundtrack budget was puny!

Manhunter is another one with bad synth tracks.

[Rich Malloy]

Kon Ichikawa's "THE MAKIOKA SISTERS".

A fantastic movie, so take this with a grain of salt... but the very 80s synth score just seems so incongruous with this look at pre-War Japanese bourgeoisie. (The score is only occasionally intrusive.)

[guy incognito]

the original score for ANIMAL HOUSE(not the hit songs added)seems absurdly formal at times, which is also true of the GUARDING TESS score, not sure what the point was in that...


In the case of Animal House, I think it's deliberately intended as a pastiche of ivy-halled, leafy-groved academic pomposity, isn't it?

[Todd Fredericks]

[QUOTE=Ken_McAlinden]A near miss for me is "The Third Man". It doesn't quite ruin the movie, but I am always somewhat annoyed by the much acclaimed and apparently loved by everyone who is not me "Zithermania" soundtrack.
QUOTE]

I never thought I'd disagree with you. I think it works so well with the film and the feel.

[vinyl anachronist]

I found myself watching "Driving Miss Daisy" the other day, and was able to pinpoint one of the many reasons I don't like it...the soundtrack. It's basically the same cutesy-poo sanitized "ain't this jazzy?" theme which lasts for twenty seconds before devolving into an 80's synth-mess. The same twenty second snip gets played over and over and over....

"Terms of Endearment" is another one. It's a much better movie than "Daisy," but what an awful score. The 80s will not go down as one of the great decades for movie scores.

[doc brown]

hmmm, it probably would be easier to list the movies with an effective soundtrack. Most movies use crappy dated music which adds nothing positive to the movie. the 90's saw the quick rise of the disposible soundtrack album matching up new hot bands (read:tomorrows losers) to make a quick buck. boo.

my addition would thus be any pg-13 movie post-1993

[Ready Steady Go]

Can't recall a specific movie (others may), yet the ones that bug me have the story set at a specific time (i.e., the "early 60's") - but then incorporate songs in the soundtrack that came out much later in the decade. Maybe "Dirty Dancing" was guilty of that. The strain of believing "this is supposed to take place in 1962, but they're listening to Herman's Hermits" or what-have-you.... guess it's a record collector thing, but if it's a period piece, stick with songs from that period. Otherwise, the flick degenerates into "Happy Days" schlock - like watching Potsie sing "Splish Splash" while he's wearing bell bottoms and sporting feathered hair.

[SMc]

Can I toss in a mini, but related, thread crap? "Joan of Arcadia" on TV (of course) has the most annoying habit of having songs playing behind the dialogue. I realize that I am getting old.....but I can't pick up half of what is said due to the background musical interference.
And another tv thing: I hate the way "American Dreams" characters talk their way through 'live' musical performances.

Stephen

[John Moschella]

[QUOTE=Ken_McAlinden]A near miss for me is "The Third Man". It doesn't quite ruin the movie, but I am always somewhat annoyed by the much acclaimed and apparently loved by everyone who is not me "Zithermania" soundtrack.
QUOTE]

I never thought I'd disagree with you. I think it works so well with the film and the feel.

I do too.

When I think of ruined movies two come to mind. One is that Flash Gordon film with the hideous Queen soundtrack. Nuf said about that. The other is Ladyhawk which I think could have been a good movie except for the 70s synth soundtrack.

[AudioEnz]

Can I toss in a mini, but related, thread crap? "Joan of Arcadia" on TV (of course) has the most annoying habit of having songs playing behind the dialogue. I realize that I am getting old.....but I can't pick up half of what is said due to the background musical interference.

That's a very real, but largely unrecognised problem. Most of the people who put together the sound for TV programs, movies and even plays are youngish, and don't realise how difficult it can be for older audiences to decode voices when the background music is loud.

I put together sound for a local amatuer theatrical group and always make sure that the actors voices are lost in loud music.

[thegage]

A near miss for me is "The Third Man". It doesn't quite ruin the movie, but I am always somewhat annoyed by the much acclaimed and apparently loved by everyone who is not me "Zithermania" soundtrack.

Regards,

I'd go even further than this. The zither music does just ruin the movie for me, especially the way it's aggressively faded in at key moments--as if you didn't know it was a key moment. It smacks of all the subtlety of a run-of-the-mill Hollywood blockbuster.

John K.

[XMIAudioTech]

I do too.

When I think of ruined movies two come to mind. One is that Flash Gordon film with the hideous Queen soundtrack. Nuf said about that.

I thoroughly disagree!!!!!

The Queen score/soundtrack compliments that movie perfectly, in all its glorious campiness!!!

I couldn't imagine it with any other score... :D

-Aaron

[Pinknik]

I put together sound for a local amatuer theatrical group and always make sure that the actors voices are lost in loud music.

Well now you're just being cruel. :D

[RetroSmith]

Oh MAN, have you ever seen "The Idolmaker" , the story of Bob Marcucci who discovered Frankie Avalon and Fabian?

The movie is set from 1959 to 1963............yet the original music by i think, Barry Mann, is SOOOOOOOOOO 1980.

one of my very favorite movies in the world, ruined by a too modern sounding soundtrack. Theres NOTHING here that sounds like Frankie and Fabes Hit stuff.

[Captain Groovy]

I know Bruce Beresford HATED the score for his Oscar winning movie, "Driving Miss Daisy." It was all synth but he wanted an all-orchestral score.

I love the score, however, but come to think of it, it shouldn't have been synth!

JEFF!

[Emberglow]

Some DVD releases these days allow you to play the isolated score, i.e. just the music, no dialogue. Perhaps there should be an option to play the movie WITHOUT the score!